Introduction

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कश्चित्कान्ताविरहगुरुणा स्वाधिकारप्रमत्तः
शापेनास्तंगमितमहिमा वर्षर्भोग्येण भर्तुः ।
यक्षश्चक्रे जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु
स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु वसतिं रामगिर्याश्रमेषु ॥ १ ॥

A certain Yakṣa was cursed by his master for being neglectful of his duty,
And deprived of his great power, became depressed,
Separated from his wife for a year:
He made home in the hermitage of Rāmagiri mountain,
Where the water had been sanctified by the bathing of Janaka’s daughter Sītā
And where the trees give lovely shade. (1)

ある夜叉[ヤクシャ]が己の務めを怠り、主の呪いを受けた
一年の間 大いなる力を削がれ、妻から引き離される苦しみを与えられ
ジャナカの娘[シーター]の沐浴で聖別された水と
やさしき影をつくる木々のある、ラーマの山[ラーマギリ]に住んだ(一)

Meghadūta, “The Cloud Messenger” is a Sanskrit poem composed by the famous poet saint Kālidāsa. A lonely Yakṣa in exile, separated from his wife, decides to ask a cloud to carry his message to her. The major part of the poem is a description of the cloud’s journey.

メーガドゥータ(雲の使者)は、インドの詩聖カーリダーサによるサンスクリット詩です。妻から引き離された夜叉が雲に便りを託すという内容で、その大半は、雲が夜叉の妻の許にたどり着くまでの道のりの描写となっています。このウェブサイトでは、この詩に登場する植物の紹介をしています。

This website introduces the plants mentioned in the poem. Each page has an illustration of the flower, botanic description, verses that contain the flower and their translation, and a recording of the chanting of the verse. I did not include lotuses in the lists, since they occur numerously and it also seems fairly clear to the readers. There may also be few plants that I have missed out.

The translations, both in English and Japanese, are done by Tomomi Sato, and they are liberal translations: tense and sentence structure are often changed, especially in the case of English, for better flow of the language.

英語および日本語の翻訳の文責は佐藤友美にあります。言語の構造が違うために、特に英語の翻訳文においては、時制や語順が反映されていないことが多々あります。

Meghadūta, transmitted orally for centuries, vary to some extent in word choice and verse sequence in different versions. I have followed the version as it appears in Hideo Kimura’s Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha.(1962, Kyoto: Hyakka-en)

メーガドゥータは元々、口承伝統で伝えられてきたものですので、大体において重なりながらも、地域や学者により語の選択や詩節の順序などには諸説あります。 番号や異説のある語などについては、木村秀雄著「カーリダーサ文学集 季節集・雲の使者」(昭和40年 百華苑発行)に倣い、また植物の特定にも非常に参考にさせていただきました。


Sincere thanks to Isabella for her extensive help with the English translations.


(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Sarala サララ

Pinus roxburghii (Long-leaved pine)

sarala


A tall, coniferous tree with whorled branches and dark grey or reddish deeply fissured, rough, exloliating bark; leaves in bundles of three, 20-30cm long, triquetrous, green, each bundle surrounded at base by a persistent sheath; male cones about 13 mm long, ripe female cones 10-20 cm long on short stiff stalks; seeds winged, wings membranous. The sapwood is white to cremy white and heartwood light red, turning reddish brown on exposure. Annual rings and dark streaks denoting longitudinal resin canals are very conspicuous. The fresh wood has a resinous odour. Flowering-fruiting March to November. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p888)

तं चेद्वायौ सरति सरलस्कन्धसंघट्टजन्मा

बाधेतोल्काक्षपितचमरीवालभारो दवाग्निः ।

अर्हस्येनं शमयितुमलं वारिधारासहस्रैर्

आपन्नार्तिप्रशमनफलाः संपदो ह्युत्तमानाम् ॥ ५३ ॥

When the wind blows on the mountain,
Camarī bird’s tail-feathers may catch fire from the bushfire
Caused by the thick branches of Sarala rubbing each other;
Then you must control it with a thousand of water-floods.
The great ones’ wealth is to fruit in the helping of those afflicted by pain.(53)

その山に、もしも風が吹きすさび サララの幹が擦れ生じた山の火が
チャマリー鳥の尾羽を燃やして 苦しめるなら
きみは千の雨を以ってそれを鎮めるのだ
降りかかる苦難を払うことに、貴き者の富は実るのだから(五三)


In the cloud’s journey. The water that the cloud possesses is taken as a ‘wealth’.

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Śirīṣa シリーシャ

Albizia lebbeck (Siris tree)

zirISa

A medium to large sized unarmed deciduous tree about 20 m in height with an umbrella-shaped crown and grey to dark brown rough irregularly cracjed bark; leaves abruptly bipinnate, main rachis with a large gland above the base and one below the upper-most pair of pinnae 2-4 pairs, leaflets 5-9 pairs with glands between their bases, the lateral ones elliptic-oblong, the two terminal ovate-oblong, all unequal sided; flower white, fragrant, in globose umbellate heads; fruits long, characteristic pods, bluntly pointed, thin, pale yellow, smooth, shiny, reticulately veined above the seed; seeds 4-12, pale brown, ellipsoid, oblong, compressed. Flowering-fruiting February to January. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.5 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p56)

हस्ते लीलाकमलमलकं बालकुन्दानुविद्धं

नीता रोध्रप्रसवरजसा पण्डुतामाननश्रीः ।

चूदापाशे नवकुरबकं चारु कर्णे शिरीषं

सीमन्ते च त्वदुपगमजं यत्र नीपं वधूनाम् ॥ ६५ ॥

There, in the women’s hand, is a red lotus to play with;
Her ringlet is adorned with young Kunda;
The grace of her face is made fair with the pollen of the Rodhra flowers;
On the braids at the head, fresh Kurabaka; on her hairs, lovely Śirīṣa;
And at the hairline, Nīpa which has sprung upon your approach. (65)

手には遊びの赤睡蓮[カマラ] 髪の一房は若きクンダの花で飾り
ロードゥラの花の粉は麗しき面[おもて]をほの白く染め
頭上の髪束には摘みたてのクラバカ 耳元には愛らしきシリーシャ
額の際にはきみの訪れに咲いたニーパの花を、女たちは(六五)


A description of (the women in) the Yakṣa’s hometown Alakā. Kimura (1962: 253) writes that they are flowers from different seasons but florishing all at once as this is a place of the demi-gods.

[Reference: Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.]

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Vānīra ヴァーニーラ

Calamus rotang (common rattan)

vAnIra


A scandant slender shrub with cylindrical uniformly thick yellowish white stems armed with short flat spines on leaf sheaths, leaf sheaths glabrous, hollowed below, ochrea short, truncate, margined with small straight or recurved spines having laterally compressed bases, rachis near the base flat and smooth sbove, channeled at the sides to receive the leaflets, trigonous upwards, armed below along the middle, leaflets very numerous, equidistant, 1-ribbed, the rib bearing scattered bistles; flowers unisexual, male spadix very long, flagelliferous, spathes elongate tubular, female flowers scattered along the slender branches of the spadix; fruits seated on the minute perianth, subglobose, mucronate, scales many, pale yellow in vertical series. Flowering-fruiting February to May. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.1 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p214)

तस्याः किंचित्करधृतमिव प्राप्तवानीरशाखं

हृत्वा नीलं सलिलवसनं मुक्तरोधोनितम्बम् ।

प्रस्थानं ते कथमपि सखे लम्बमानस्य भावि

ज्ञातास्वादो विवृतजघनां को विहातुं समर्थः ॥ ४१ ॥

Like the lady river’s arms, Vānīra branches reach out
To take away her water clothes and expose her hip, the bank.
Of course passing there will be painful;
I know, it is hard, to leave a woman while knowing her taste. (41)

どこかしら 彼女の腕のよう、伸びたヴァーニーラの枝が掴む
青き水の衣を取り除けば、尻の岸辺が露になる
きみの去るのは、友よ、どうしたって、名残惜しくなるだろう
剥きだしの腰の味を知りながら、誰が離れられるというのか(四一)


At the Gambīrā river, in the cloud’s journey. Vānīra was actually holding on the water-clothes, but I could not make that poin clear in the translation.

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Rodhra ロードゥラ

Symplocos racemosa (Lodh tree)

rodhra

A small tree smooth, light grey and white wood; leaves simple, alternate, very thick, lanceolate, aliptic or oblong, shortly acuminate at the apex, irregularly crenate or serrage; fruits globose, purple, ribbed drupes; seeds 1-3 testa thin. The outer bark is thin and the inner greenish or light brown, the cut surface of the thick bark of mature tree is reddish brown on drying; when broken, short thin fibre tips are seen. Flowering-fruiting November to May. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.4 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p1078)

हस्ते लीलाकमलमलकं बालकुन्दानुविद्धं

नीता रोध्रप्रसवरजसा पण्डुतामाननश्रीः ।

चूदापाशे नवकुरबकं चारु कर्णे शिरीषं

सीमन्ते च त्वदुपगमजं यत्र नीपं वधूनाम् ॥ ६५ ॥

There, in the women’s hand, is a red lotus to play with;
Her ringlet is adorned with young Kunda;
The grace of her face is made fair with the pollen of the Rodhra flowers;
On the braids at the head, fresh Kurabaka; on her hairs, lovely Śirīṣa;
And at the hairline, Nīpa which has sprung upon your approach. (65)

手には遊びの赤睡蓮[カマラ] 髪の一房は若きクンダの花で飾り
ロードゥラの花の粉は麗しき面[おもて]をほの白く染め
頭上の髪束には摘みたてのクラバカ 耳元には愛らしきシリーシャ
額の際にはきみの訪れに咲いたニーパの花を、女たちは(六五)


A description of (the women in) the Yakṣa’s hometown Alakā. Kimura (1962: 253) writes that they are flowers from different seasons but florishing all at once as this is a place of the demi-gods.

[Reference: Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.]

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Yūthikā ユーティカー

Jasminum auriculatum (Needle flower jasmine)

yUthikA

A scandent, pubescent or velvety shrub with grey-pubescent pranchlets; leaves trifoliatewith two lower leaflets very small and frequently wanting, central leaflets broadly ovate, acuminate or rounded, main nerves few inconspicuous, petioles very short; flowers white, sweet scented, many in trichotomous paniculate cymes, corolla lobes 5-8; fruits globose, black. Flowering-fruiting major part of the year. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p648)

विश्रान्तः सन्व्रज वननदीतीरजातानि सिञ्चन्न्

उद्यानानां नवजलकनैर्यूथिकाजालकानि ।

गण्डस्वेदापनयनरुजाक्लान्तकर्णोत्पलानां

छायादानात्क्षणपरिचितः पुष्पलावीमुखानाम् ॥ २६ ॥

You will go after the rest, sprikling new water drops
On the buds of Yūthikā, in the gardens on the shore of the forest river.
Give shade and acquaint yourself with the flower-giving girls;
Utpala lotus by their ears are withered sadly from accepting cheak sweat.(26)

休めを終えたら進むんだ 新たなる水の雫で
森の川辺の園にある、ユーティカーの蕾に雨を降らしつつ
耳の睡蓮[ウトパラ]が頬の汗拭うことで傷み萎えた
花集める女の顔に 影を与え束の間親しみつつ(二十六)


In the cloud’s journey, after a rest at the Nīca mountain.

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Mādhavī マーダヴィー

Hiptage benghalensis (Clustered hiptage)

mAdhavI

A large woody, much-branched, evergreen climbing shrub. Leaves simple, opposite, coriacceous, alliptic-oblong flowers yellowish-white, fragrant, in racemes. Fruit 3-winged samara. Seed globose, solitary. Flowering-fruiting January to June. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p604)

रक्ताशोकश्चलकिसलयः केसरश्चात्र कान्तः

प्रत्यासन्नौ कुरबकवृतेर्माधवीमण्डपस्य ।

एकः सख्यास्तव सह मया वामपादाभिलाषी

काङ्क्षत्यन्यो वदनमदिरां दोहदच्छद्मनास्याः ॥ ७५ ॥

The red Aśoka tree’s fresh leaves are wavering and Kesara is lovely
Near the hedge of Kurabaka and the pavillion of Mādhavī.
The former longs for the left foot of your female friend my lover, just like me;
The latter desires her mouthful of wine, pretending it yearns to bloom.(75)

赤きアショーカは若葉を揺らし、ここで ケーサラは愛らしく
クラバカの垣根 マーダヴィーのあずまやの傍で
一つはきみの女友だちの左足を、私とともに 切に望み
いま一つは彼女の口含んだ酒を 蕾もつものの望みにかこつけ欲す(七五)


Somewhere near the Yakṣa’s home in Alakā. The first is Aśoka and the other is Kesara. According to Kale (1999: 132), “The Aśoka is said to put forth flowers when kicked with her left foot by a beautiful woman” and Kesara “is poetically described as putting forth blossoms when sprinkled over with mouthful of wine by young ladies”.
[Reference: Kale, M. R. 1999. The Meghadūta of Kālidāsa. Corrected Edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.]

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Mandāra マンダーラ

Erythrina variegata
(Indian coral tree)

mandAra


A medium sized quick growing tree ataining 18 m in height armed with dark coloured, conical prickles, bark yellowish, smooth, shiny, paperly; leaves trifoliolate, leaflets 10-15 cm long and nearly as broad, rhomboid ovate; flowers coral red, in dense race3mes, corolla papilionaceous; fruits pods, torulose, 15-30 cm long, containing upto 12 seeds; seeds red to dark purple or brown. Flowering-fruiting January to May. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.2 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p502)

गत्युत्कम्पादलकपतितैर्यत्रमन्दारपुष्पैः

कॢप्तच्छेद्यैः कनककमलैःकर्णविभ्रंशिभिश्च ।

मुक्तालग्नस्तनपरिमलैश्छिन्नसूत्रैश्च हारैर्

नैशो मार्गः सवितुरुदये सूच्यते कामिनीनाम् ॥ ७० ॥

When the sun’s aurora reaches, on the way are
Mandāra flowers fallen from ringlet;
Golden lotuses torn, falling off from ears;
And necklaces, their threads broken, scattering pearls fragrant from the perfume on breasts;
Which indicate the nightly path of the love-afflicted women. (70)

かの地では、結い髪からこぼれ落ちたマンダーラの花
耳から落ちて破けた金睡蓮[カマラ]
ちぎれた首飾りの、乳房の香油ふくんだ真珠が
日輪の昇る時、愛に溺れた女どもの夜道を教える(七〇)


A description of the Yakṣa’s hometown Alakā. Mandāra is said to be one of the five sacred trees of the heavens, thus the use of the golden lotus and Mandāra indicates that this is a place of higher beings (Kimura 1962: 255). [Reference: Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.]

तत्रागारं धनपतिगृहानुत्तरेणास्मदीयं

दूराल्लक्ष्यं तदमरधनुश्चारुणा तोरणेन ।

यस्योपान्ते कृतकतनयः कान्तया वर्धितो मे

हस्तप्राप्यस्तवकनमितो बालमन्दारवृक्षः ॥ ७२ ॥

At the north of the Wealth Lord Kubera’s palace,
Our abode will be recognised from faraway;
The splendid arched gate resembles a celestial bow.
The young Mandāra tree there is my adopted son,
Who leans so that his mother, my beloved’s, hands can reach the clustered blossoms. (72)

そこ、富の神クベーラ[ダナパティ]の宮の北に、我らが家はある
弓門の神の弓[にじ]の如き素晴らしさは 遠くからでも分かるだろう
その近く、我が愛しのひとの育てる養い子 若きマンダーラ樹は
花房が彼女の手に届くように、身を傾がせている(七二)


A description of the Yakṣa’s home. At Kālidāsa’s time, to take in plants or animals as adopted children was one of the ways to express sympathy to them (Kimura 1962: 256). [Reference: Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.]

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Nīpa ニーパ

Ixora coccinea (Jungle flame)

nIpa

A large, glabrous shrub. Leaves simple, opposite, decussate, elliptic, sessile, coriaceous. Flowers red, scarlet, or other shades, in corymbose cymes. Fruiut globose, fleshy, smooth. Flowering-fruiting major part of the year. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p644)

नीपं दृष्ट्वा हरितकपिशं केसरैरर्धरूढैर्

आविर्भूतप्रथममुकुलाः कन्दलीश्चानुकच्छम् ।

दग्धारण्येष्वधिकसुरभिं गन्धमाघ्राय चोर्व्याः

सारङ्गास्ते जललवमुचः सूचयिष्यन्ति मार्गम् ॥ २१ ॥

Nīpas appear green and red with the half-grown stamens;
The first buds of the Kandalīs emerge at the bank;
And the fragrance of the earth in the burnt wilderness increase;
Recognising them, the antelopes will show the path for you, the water-pourer. (21)

ニーパの花の芯が半ば伸びて、緑と赤をなすのを
そして岸辺で初めの蕾を生じさせたカンダリーを見て、
焼野にいやまし立ち上る大地の香を嗅いだ
鹿たちは示すだろう、水の雫もたらす きみの道を(二十一)


After taking some water from the Revā river, in the cloud’s journey. Mallinātha (in Kale 1999: 41) lists Nīpa as Kadamba. Amara dictionary also lists thus, but in Riṭusaṁhāra, which is attributed to Kālidāsa, there is a verse that contains both Nīpa and Kadamba, as different flowers (Kimura 1962: 184). Confusion also arises from the word ‘harita’, whose colour ranges from yellow to green, and ‘kapiśa’ meaning ‘ape-colour’, which can range from orange to brown as well as red. Here I have followed Kimura’s suggestion and take Nīpa as the red Ixora coccinea flower. [Reference: Kale, M. R. 1999. The Meghadūta of Kālidāsa. Corrected Edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.; Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.]

हस्ते लीलाकमलमलकं बालकुन्दानुविद्धं

नीता रोध्रप्रसवरजसा पण्डुतामाननश्रीः ।

चूदापाशे नवकुरबकं चारु कर्णे शिरीषं

सीमन्ते च त्वदुपगमजं यत्र नीपं वधूनाम् ॥ ६५ ॥

There, in the women’s hand, is a red lotus to play with;
Her ringlet is adorned with young Kunda;
The grace of her face is made fair with the pollen of the Rodhra flowers;
On the braids at the head, fresh Kurabaka; on her hairs, lovely Śirīṣa;
And at the hairline, Nīpa which has sprung upon your approach. (65)

手には遊びの赤睡蓮[カマラ] 髪の一房は若きクンダの花で飾り
ロードゥラの花の粉は麗しき面[おもて]をほの白く染め
頭上の髪束には摘みたてのクラバカ 耳元には愛らしきシリーシャ
額の際にはきみの訪れに咲いたニーパの花を、女たちは(六五)


A description of (the women in) the Yakṣa’s hometown Alakā. Kimura (1962: 253) writes that they are flowers from different seasons but florishing all at once as this is a place of the demi-gods.

[Reference: Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.]

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013

Devadāru デーヴァダール

Cedrus deodara (Himalayan cedar)

devadAru


A large handsome evergreen conifer tree reaching upto 85 m in height, witth almost rough, black, furrowed bark and spreading branches; shoots dimorphic; leaves needle-like triquetrous, shrp, pointed; male cones solitary, cylindric at the ends of branchlets, female cones solitary at the ends of branchlets, composed of imbricating thin woody placental scales; seeds pale brown, wings longer than the seeds. The heartwood of deodar is light yellowish brown, turning brown on exposure. It is oily, fragrant and strong. Flowering-fruiting April to January.(Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.1 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p276)

भित्त्वा सद्यः किसलयपुटान्देवदारुद्रुमानां

ये तत्क्षीरस्रुतिसुरभयो दक्षिणेन प्रवृत्ताः ।

आलिङ्ग्यन्ते गुणवति मया ते तुषाराद्रिवाताः

पूर्वस्पृष्टं यदि किल भवेदंगमेभिस्तवेति ॥ १०४ ॥

The winds from the snowy mountain,
Opening all at once the folding sprouts of the Devadāru tree,
Will be fragrant with the streams of their sap.
I will embrace them when they come south, O Perfect lady!
They might have touched your body before. (104)

デーヴァダール樹の折り重なる芽を一息でひらき
その放たれた樹液で香り南に吹きやられるもの
かの雪山の風を、おお素晴らしきひと[グナヴァティ]よ 私は抱きしめる
もしか、おまえの身体に 触れた来たかもしれぬから(一〇四)


A part of the Yakṣa’s message to his wife.

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(c) Tomomi Sato 2013